2017 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award Winner Chosen

2017 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster
POMONA, CA, Sunday, January 29, 2017 — A 1936 Packard Roadster was chosen as the 2017 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster here at the Pomona Fairplex during the closing moments of the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show. In the final moments of the 68th Annual Roadster Show the crowd saw the ten-foot trophy go to the Packard custom creation owned by Bruce Wanta. It was built by Troy Ladd and his crew from Hollywood Hot Rods in Burbank, CA. This is the first time in 68 years that the top award has gone to a Packard.

Bruce Wanta’s “Mulholland Speedster” 1936 Packard Roadster.
Cars On Line’s Bob Boberg interviewed Bruce Wanta after the awards presentation. Click the video window below to hear and see what Wanta had to say about this historical achievement:
The America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award winner was chosen from a field of 13 finalists. There were 650 show cars on display in ten indoor buildings here at the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show at the Pomona Fairplex. Over 1,000 cars will be on display outside.
Here are the AMBR contenders for 2017:
Nice paint on this 1932 Ford Roadster Pickup owned by Matthew Gordon.
We immediately noticed a Rick Dore creation called “After Shock”, a 1937 Ford Custom with exotic car looks and features.
Photo-journalist Bob Boberg of eClassicAutos.com captured this video of “After Shock” during the opening festivities at the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show:
Shawn Killian’s 1928 Lincoln Roadster Brings Chrysler Firepower to the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show. Will it be this year’s AMBR?
A hot rod worth the name entered by Wayne Johnson.
Dan Peterson’s “The Hill Country Flyer”
Don Lindfor’s 1932 Ford Roadster Pickup.
Bill Grant’s 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster.
Scott Hawley’s 1932 Ford Roadster in a dark blue.
Canadian Gordon Gray brought his 1932 Ford Roadster.
Matt Taylor brought his 1927 Dodge Roadster.
Metallica rock star James Hetfield is showing his old school 1932 Ford Roadster.
Jim McPherson’s 1934 Ford Phaeton.
The America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy is equivalent to a West Coast version of the Ridler Award. It is one of the most coveted awards in the street rodding world. The 68th Annual O’Reilly Grand National Roadster Show runs January 27-29, 2017 at the Pomona Fairplex.
The top cars in the country are here to compete for a place in their class. And the very best of the best will be considered as contenders for the 2017 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster.
Here is what the coveted award looks like (see photo, right.) It is ten feet tall and takes four men to move it. When Al and Mary Slonaker started the National Roadster Show in 1950, Al came up with the idea of having a statuesque trophy to impress on people the importance of the award. Originally the trophy stood 8 1/2 feet tall, but more recently it had to be modified to hold more winners. The art deco designs of the Ganat Brothers of San Francisco are now priceless collectibles, and this trophy is one of their creations. In years past this show was called the Oakland Roadster Show. Back then no one ever dreamed it would have the world wide attention that it gets today.
Follow this link to view more cars and photos from the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California.